


They Met At The Shore

by starvonnie



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, cross-species, human!megatron, idk how to tag this, merman!rodimus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 22:51:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8120665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starvonnie/pseuds/starvonnie
Summary: Rodimus leaves gifts for Megatron in the hopes that he can make him smile.Listen this writes like a bad romance novel.  Don't say I didn't warn you.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Harutemu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harutemu/gifts).



> This was inspired by the-final-checkmate's gr8 photoshop work (http://the-final-checkmate.tumblr.com/post/150808305111/starvonnie-i-did-it-and-it-took-4-hours-as-you) which was in turn inspired by something else I wrote so.... yeah....
> 
> And Harutemu this isn't EXACTLY a Little Mermaid Megarod thing but I mean Rodimus is a merman who wants a human and calls forks dinglehoppers soooooooooooo
> 
> I imagined Rodimus as looking like uniformshark's Rodimus merformer, and Megatron looks like his holoavatar.

He's at a party that night.  The first company he's had in months.  For the first time, a smile on his face.  He drinks whiskey and sings jaunty sailor songs with his friends.  He seems _happy_.  The wrinkles on his face finally make sense as they're forced into thinner lines stretched around his mouth.  And, oh, he is beautiful.

But then the party ends.  His friends slap him on the back and wish him well just before they all file back onto that huge ship; how something that big could ever stay buoyant was a mystery.  They wave good-bye, all perhaps a little too inebriated to steer a ship, but they make it out of the port just fine.  And then he returns.  The man Rodimus had spent so long watching.  Wondering.  Waiting.  For what, he didn't know, until that night.  He had been waiting to see his smile.  See who he really is.  But he's gone again.  Replaced by this... emptiness.

The man assumes the position.  Leaning on the railing, forlornly watching the tide go out.  Even the now-rising sun couldn't brighten his tired old face.

What did Rodimus even hope to do?  Without legs, and he without fins, they were each trapped.  This was hopeless.  He should just give up.  But that _smile_.

When the man went inside, Rodimus slipped below the surface to his stash.  He would need to find him something extra good today.  Most of it was garbage.  And rusted.  He needed something familiar to him.  Something like... this!  He had almost forgotten about it.  He had buried it safely in the pile for when such a day arrived.  It had accumulated a bit more rust since then, but it was still the shiniest thing he had.  A dinglehopper.

Rodimus hugged the trinket to his chest as he swam as quickly as he was able.  He kept close to the shore, but far enough down so that he wouldn't be seen.  When he breached the surface, he tried to keep the fins on his head down, to make himself harder to spot.  But they fanned out regardless, making his head look like a small sun poking out of the water.

He did a quick scan of the shore, making sure there were no humans around.  He knew how dangerous they could be.  He knew they were the reason he came across so few mermaids in his travels.  But this man meant him no harm.  He could tell.  There was kindness in his heart.

Just as Rodimus had deemed the coast clear, his arm extended to deposit the dinglehopper in the little hole in the rock, he saw movement.  Frightened eyes followed it, finding the man.  He had gone for his walk early! 

Rodimus dropped the dinglehopper and dove, hoping that it hadn't followed him back to the seafloor.  His tail became a blur of colour as he swam, and he didn't stop until he was curled up in his little cave.  It was a tad on the cramped side, but it was better than being exposed to predators.  Before he would have slept peacefully on the seafloor.  Someone was always watching.  But he was alone now.  Without his pod to protect him. 

That had been far too close.  And now he was too afraid of being spotted to hide behind that rock to watch him.  He hoped that it would make him smile.  But now he would never know if it did.

The day past, feeling longer than most, and Rodimus fell into a sad slumber.

The next day, the man woke early, like he always did.  He took tired steps to the edge of his porch, like he always did.  Leaning on the railing, like he always did.  But unlike usual, he had something with him.  Some small object in his hand that shone in the soft rays of the sunrise.

Rodimus watched him curiously. 

He pulled his arm back, face crumpled with rage, like he was about to throw the thing.  But then a tear rolled down his cheek, spurred on by his anger.  It was closely followed by another, and then another, and then he was crying quietly into his hands. 

As shy as he was, Rodimus wanted to leap out of the water right then and there.  Wipe away those tears.  Such a face shouldn't be forced to endure such sorrow.

The sobs stopped suddenly, and the man stood up straight.  Or as straight as he could.  Except for that one night, Rodimus had always seen him hunched over a little.  Like the weight of the world rested on his weary shoulders.  It slipped from his hand, hitting the water with a gentle _plop_.

Rodimus ducked under the water as quietly as he could, racing over to where it had been dropped.  He caught it just before it hit the sand, holding it to his chest and looking up at the warbled image of the man.  He stepped away from the railing, and out of Rodimus' sight.

With a resigned sigh, Rodimus let himself come to rest on the sea's bottom.  It seemed like he would never make him smile.  Not like he had at the party.  He needed to see more than a brief smile.  He needed to see him alone, but still happy.  He just... didn't know what to do.  Perhaps if he were human.  Maybe then he could find a way to make him happy.

Bubbles made their way to the surface as Rodimus sighed again.  The surface.  It both connected them and parted them.  A very solid line separating their worlds.  Rodimus could not survive without water, and the man without land.  What was he even hoping for?  They could never be.  Even if he managed to muster up the courage to talk to him.  And that relied on him not being frightened by him.  He wasn't human.  He looked nothing like his species.  He was a merman with delusions.

But now he had this.

Opening his hands slowly, his heart both warmed and lurched, making it feel like it was going to burst from his chest.  Lying in his palms, was a badge.  Neat letters carved into the gold metal read: CAPTAIN MEGATRON. 

His name.  Megatron.  He couldn't stop repeating his name in his mind.  _Megatron, Megatron, Megatron_.

"Megatron..."  He said it so softly that even he himself doubted that he had said it.  It tasted familiar on his tongue.  Like he had called him that his whole life.

He wanted to keep this thing.  He had a great many things but none that he actually wanted.  They were all things he wanted to give.  What use were material objects when giving them could grant him something far more precious?

But this.  He wanted it.  But it wasn't his to keep.

The swim to the cove that day was a solemn one. 

Rodimus kept running his fingers over his name.  He would memorize the way it felt in his hands, so that he could recall the memory when he missed it.  It would be like he had never given it back.

He made his ascent to the surface slowly, savouring the badge's crisp edges, so unlike anything found in nature.  So _human_.

His eyes stayed sad, unable to lift from the seafloor, and now from the ground as he rose out of the sea.  Giving the thing one last sorrowful look, he reached forward to deposit it into the hole.  But when he finally lifts his gaze to find the hole, he finds himself looking at a pair of worn out black boots.  The sight before him doesn't register quickly enough. 

"You!"

Rodimus recoils from the sudden shout, but he can't bring himself to swim away.  His eyes, the colour of fallen leaves just beginning to brown, are fixated on him.  To break himself away from that gaze would be torture.

"All these years..."  And then he does something completely unexpected, but it makes Rodimus' heart swell.  He had hoped for a smile, but what he got was a laugh.  A booming, full-body laugh.  It was music to his ears.

"My crew... they told me I was crazy."  Megatron shook his head.  "'Too much seawater,' they had said.  But I knew.  I always knew."

Rodimus cocked his head.

"Can you speak?" Megatron asked, leaning forward, reaching out a hand to him.  "Do you understand me?"

Cautiously, hand shaking with trepidation, Rodimus reached back.  He stopped just before they made contact, his blue eyes wide.  It was only once he looked into Megatron's eyes, calm, gentle, that he allowed their palms to touch, their fingers to intertwine.  Megatron held his hand firmly, but it was a strength that would yield if Rodimus pulled away.  He had to be more careful, lest his claws harm the captain. 

"I...  Yes."  Rodimus wasn't sure if he would be able to say anything else.

A gentle tug at his arm.  A shift of his body, making room for Rodimus on the flat expanse of rock.  A smile in his eyes.

Rodimus answered that question as silently as it had been asked.  He closed the gap between himself and the shoreline, and with Megatron's help, climbed up onto the rock.  All while never letting go of that warm hand.

Megatron let their combined hands come to rest between them, but his thumb stayed restless, making circles on Rodimus' hand.  While his eyes, oh, his _eyes_.  They continued to stare into his.  Until he was sure that he would melt under their gaze.  Until the rest of the world ceased to be.  The hot sun on his skin stopped burning.  The tang of salt, usually prominent, faded so that Rodimus could smell his musk.  The seagulls, the waves, all sounds quieted so that he may hear Megatron breathing. 

"What's your name?"  Though Megatron's voice was not unfamiliar to Rodimus, it was only at this distance that he heard the deep rumble under his words.  "Do you have one?"

Rodimus nodded slowly.

Megatron chuckled.  It was one of the most beautiful sounds he had ever heard.  "May I know it?"

"Oh!  Yes."  Rodimus flattened the fins that had puffed up on his head.  He was sure that they just popped right back up from his bashfulness, but the motion calmed him some.  "It's Rodimus."

"Rodimus." 

He had imagined hearing his name in his voice.  The reality was so much better.

"You are... Megatron." 

Megatron looked shocked, and then curious when Rodimus held out the hand that held the badge.  He hesitated when Megatron put his hand underneath to accept the gift, but Rodimus knew it belonged to him.  He knew that he hadn't really wanted to throw it away. 

The badge sat in his calloused palm.  It was pin-side up, but it wasn't hard to tell what it was.

"You were watching me."  He didn't sound mad, but Rodimus still prepared to flee.  But then a tear rolled down his cheek, and he was granted the chance to wipe it away.  He made sure to be very careful.  Human skin was delicate.  One quick swipe of his claw would tear it open.  And once he was done that, Megatron held his hand there, cupping his cheek.  Feeling and watching that smile form again.  "Thank you."

"And you... know me?"  All he had known of the man was his forlorn face.  Besides today, he had never let himself be seen.  A few times, he thought he might have caught his gaze, but he knew he was just imagining things. 

He nodded again.  "I have seen you.  From my ship."  His eyes turned sad again, his face falling, watching the ripples coming from Rodimus' tail.  "Or I used to, anyways.  Flashes of red and gold."  His expression brightened some as his eyes swept back up Rodimus.  "At first I was convinced that the sea was on fire."

Rodimus listened intently, gripping Megatron's hand tight.

"Every day I would watch the sea," Megatron went on, "hoping to catch sight of you.  After they told me I wasn't fit to sail... I never thought I'd see you again."

Heart pounding in his chest, Rodimus didn't know what to say.  He spent all this time watching humans, never imagining that they would be watching him back.  Though lately it had just been one human.  One who had always been near.

"You're been the one leaving me gifts, haven't you?" Megatron asked.

A nod.

He smiled widely.  "Then you have continued to be the best part of my day."

Those daily smiles-- he'd put them there!  He had appreciated them!

"I-I can get you more gifts!" 

It was hard to break himself away from the man, but he knew that he would still be there when he returned.  He would be quick.  He kept his stash close to shore. 

Diving down in the shallows, he scooped up as many items as he could carry, then shot back up to the surface to dump them on the rocks.  He heard Megatron try to say something, but he was already diving back down to get the rest.  If one trinket made him smile, then his horde of trinkets was sure to keep him smiling.  He'd scour every inch of the sea.  Every shipwreck and every reef.  He'd swim the entire world and gather as many gifts for the man as he could.  So long as he could continue to see that smile.

Before he could make his third descent, Megatron caught his arm.  Rodimus gave a yelp of pain as his hand caught a fin.  He let go immediately.

"Sorry!  I'm sorry."  His face was a mask of pain, like he had been the one to be hurt.  "What did I do?  Can I help?"

"You just caught my fin," Rodimus explained, massaging where it had been tugged.  The pain was already a distant memory.  "I'm alright.  Really."  He let his fin fan back out, preparing to dive again, when Megatron stopped him.  This time it was with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Rodimus, for all of these gifts.  I do appreciate them."  He smiled warmly.  "But all I want right now is to spend some time with you."

"I want to see you smile."  Rodimus gave one flick of his tail so he could grip the edge of the rock, looking up at Megatron.  "If gifts make you happy, then I want to give them to you."

"They did make me happy.  They _do_ make me happy.  Knowing that they came from you, that makes me happy.  But what will really make me happy right now, is for you to stay.  I've spent so much time thinking I'd lost your forever."  He shifted over on the rock, making room for Rodimus beside the pile of items.  Once he had helped the merman back onto land, he removed his boots and socks and rolled up his pants to the knee, letting his feet dangle in the water. 

"So...  I make you happy?"  Rodimus tried to hold his gaze.  It wasn't easy with the blush spreading across his cheeks.

A hand lifted to Rodimus' face.  "Very."

The world seemed to still as Megatron leaned in slowly.  He kept his eyes open until the very last second, right before their lips made contact.  Rodimus kept his open a moment longer, unable to believe that this was happening.  He'd only ever watched humans kiss before this.  It felt _incredible_.

His hand blocked one set of gills, but Rodimus didn't bother to get him to move it.  The smile pressed up against his lips had already taken his breath away.


End file.
